OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects and mechanism of Yiqi huoxue decoction （YQHX） on lumbar disc herniation in rats. METHODS Rats were randomly divided into sham operation group， model group， NF-κB inhibitor group （QNZ group， 1 mg/kg）， YQHX group （9.1 g/kg） and combination group （YQHX+QNZ group， the same dose as each single drug group）， with 10 rats in each group. Except for sham operation group， lumbar disc herniation model of rats was induced in other groups； administration groups were given QNZ intraperitoneally or/and YQHX intragastrically， once a day， for 8 consecutive weeks. The severity of intervertebral disc herniation was evaluated in each group； the pathological changes of intervertebral discs and the changes of autophagy of nucleus pulposus cells were all observed； the level of tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in serum， and the ratios of Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B interacting protein 3 （BNIP3） and Beclin-1 positive cells in intervertebral disctissues were detected； the phosphorylation of nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） p65， the expressions of tumor necrosis factor receptor- associated factor-2 （TRAF-2）， TRAF-3， BNIP3 and LC3B protein， and mRNA expressions of NF-κB p65， LC3B， p62，BNIP3 and Beclin-1 were determined. RESULTS Compared with model group， Pfirrmann grading score decreased significantly，the pathological injury of intervertebral disc tissue was relieved in YQHX group； the number of autophagosomes in nucleus pulposus cells increased； serum level of TNF-α and mRNA expression of p62 in intervertebral disc tissue decreased significantly； the ratios of BNIP3 and Beclin-1 positive cells， the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65， the expressions of TRAF-2， TRAF-3， BNIP3 and LC3B protein as well as the mRNA expressions of NF- κB p65， LC3B， BNIP3 and Beclin-1 decreased significantly in intervertebral disc tissues （P＜0.05）. The changes of above indexes in YQHX group were reversed partly in YQHX+QNZ group. CONCLUSIONS YQHX promotes the elevation of autophagy level of intervertebral discs， slows down the inflammatory response and the progression of lumbar disc herniation by activating the NF-κB signaling pathway.

A 67-year-old female patient with postoperative recurrence of stage Ⅳright renal cell carcinoma and multiple intracranial metastases was treated with sorafenib and sintilimab.Within 2 weeks,the patient had a fever and red spotted rash in facial,back,buttocks and limb.After 2 days,the fever completely relieved,but subcutaneous exudation appeared on the skin of both elbow joints,buttocks,and outer thighs,followed by gradual epidermal lysis and detachment with skin ulceration.After 4 days,the patient's epidermolysis area was greater than 30％of the body surface area.The patient was diagnosed with toxic epidermal necrolysis(TEN).The adverse reaction correlation was assessed by ALDEN SCORE sheet.The adverse reaction of TEN was"likely"caused by sorafenib and sintilimab.After withdrawal and treatment,the TEN was cured.This paper explores the correlation between the TEN and the combination use of sorafenib and sintilimab and the management.This paper will provide reference for the early diagnosis and correct treatment of TEN.

Objective To compare the efficacy and safety between hypofractionated radiotherapy(HyRt)and conventional radiotherapy after breast-conserving surgery.Methods This study was a single-center,prospective,randomized controlled study.Eighty-three patients with pTis-T2N0M0 breast cancer admitted to Tangshan People's Hospital from May 2017 to May 2019 were included.The patients received breast-conserving surgery+sentinel lymph node biopsy(SLNB).After surgery,they were treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy(IMRT).According to random table method,patients were divided into HyRt group(n=41)and conventional radiotherapy group(n=42).The dose of organs at risk,treatment efficacy,treatment failure modes,and radiotherapy related adverse reactions were analyzed in the two groups.The radiotherapy-related adverse reactions were evaluated according to NCI CTC AE Version 3.0,including radiation dermatitis,radiation pneumonia,breast/skin fibrosis,pulmonary fibrosis,etc.Results Eighty-three patients with breast cancer were included,with a median age of 44(26-67)years.There was no statistically significant difference in clinical parameters such as age(P=0.443),TNM stage(P=0.335),molecular typing(P=0.333),degree of differentiation(P=0.617),and pathological type(P=0.127)between the two groups of patients.Compared with conventional radiotherapy group,the V5(25.6％vs.33.8％,P=0.015),V20(13.3％vs.17.2％,P=0.042),and the mean radiation dose(MLD;7.4 Gy vs.10.4 Gy,P=0.020)of the affected lung of HyRt group significantly decreased.Only 3 patients in this study experienced distant metastasis,and no regional lymph node metastasis or local recurrence was observed.There was no significant difference in PFS rate at 2 years between HyRt group and conventional radiotherapy group(94.4％vs.85.2％,P=0.818).Compared with conventional radiotherapy group,the incidence of≥grade Ⅱ irradiation dermatitis in HyRt group was significantly reduced(2.4％vs.21.4％,P=0.015).There was no difference in the incidence of grade Ⅰ breast/skin fibrosis(19.5％vs.14.3％,P=0.570)between the two groups,and no grade Ⅲ radiotherapy-related side effects were observed in the two groups.Conclusions Compared with conventional radiotherapy with simultaneously integrated boosting-intensity modulated radiotherapy,the patients who received HyRt after breast-conserving surgery for early-stage breast cancer have good tolerance and low incidence of adverse reactions.HyRt can be used as the first option of radiation therapy.

Background/Aims: Despite the high efficacy of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), approximately 1–3% of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients fail to achieve a sustained virological response. We conducted a nationwide study to investigate risk factors associated with DAA treatment failure. Machine-learning algorithms have been applied to discriminate subjects who may fail to respond to DAA therapy. Methods: We analyzed the Taiwan HCV Registry Program database to explore predictors of DAA failure in HCV patients. Fifty-five host and virological features were assessed using multivariate logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and artificial neural network. The primary outcome was undetectable HCV RNA at 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Results: The training (n=23,955) and validation (n=10,346) datasets had similar baseline demographics, with an overall DAA failure rate of 1.6% (n=538). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, poor DAA adherence, and higher hemoglobin A1c were significantly associated with virological failure. XGBoost outperformed the other algorithms and logistic regression models, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 1.000 in the training dataset and 0.803 in the validation dataset. The top five predictors of treatment failure were HCV RNA, body mass index, α-fetoprotein, platelets, and FIB-4 index. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the XGBoost model (cutoff value=0.5) were 99.5%, 69.7%, 99.9%, 97.4%, and 99.5%, respectively, for the entire dataset. Conclusions Machine learning algorithms effectively provide risk stratification for DAA failure and additional information on the factors associated with DAA failure.

Child ; Consensus ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Respiratory System

BACKGROUND: Human infections with zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, have raised great public health concern globally. Here, we report a novel bat-origin CoV causing severe and fatal pneumonia in humans. METHODS: We collected clinical data and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens from five patients with severe pneumonia from Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Hubei province, China. Nucleic acids of the BAL were extracted and subjected to next-generation sequencing. Virus isolation was carried out, and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees were constructed. RESULTS: Five patients hospitalized from December 18 to December 29, 2019 presented with fever, cough, and dyspnea accompanied by complications of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Chest radiography revealed diffuse opacities and consolidation. One of these patients died. Sequence results revealed the presence of a previously unknown β-CoV strain in all five patients, with 99.8% to 99.9% nucleotide identities among the isolates. These isolates showed 79.0% nucleotide identity with the sequence of SARS-CoV (GenBank NC_004718) and 51.8% identity with the sequence of MERS-CoV (GenBank NC_019843). The virus is phylogenetically closest to a bat SARS-like CoV (SL-ZC45, GenBank MG772933) with 87.6% to 87.7% nucleotide identity, but is in a separate clade. Moreover, these viruses have a single intact open reading frame gene 8, as a further indicator of bat-origin CoVs. However, the amino acid sequence of the tentative receptor-binding domain resembles that of SARS-CoV, indicating that these viruses might use the same receptor. CONCLUSION A novel bat-borne CoV was identified that is associated with severe and fatal respiratory disease in humans.
Adult ; Aged ; Betacoronavirus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Coronavirus Infections ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; virology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; virology ; Tomography, X-Ray ; Treatment Outcome

Background: Human infections with zoonotic coronaviruses (CoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, have raised great public health concern globally. Here, we report a novel bat-origin CoV causing severe and fatal pneumonia in humans. Methods: We collected clinical data and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens from five patients with severe pneumonia from Jin Yin-tan Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Nucleic acids of the BAL were extracted and subjected to next-generation sequencing. Virus isolation was carried out, and maximum-likelihood phylogenetic trees were constructed. Results: Five patients hospitalized from December 18 to December 29, 2019 presented with fever, cough, and dyspnea accompanied by complications of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Chest radiography revealed diffuse opacities and consolidation. One of these patients died. Sequence results revealed the presence of a previously unknown β-CoV strain in all five patients, with 99.8–99.9% nucleotide identities among the isolates. These isolates showed 79.0% nucleotide identity with the sequence of SARS-CoV (GenBank NC_004718) and 51.8% identity with the sequence of MERS-CoV (GenBank NC_019843). The virus is phylogenetically closest to a bat SARS-like CoV (SL-ZC45, GenBank MG772933) with 87.6–87.7% nucleotide identity, but is in a separate clade. Moreover, these viruses have a single intact open reading frame gene 8, as a further indicator of bat-origin CoVs. However, the amino acid sequence of the tentative receptor-binding domain resembles that of SARS-CoV, indicating that these viruses might use the same receptor. Conclusion: A novel bat-borne CoV was identified that is associated with severe and fatal respiratory disease in humans.

Autopsy ; Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Coronavirus Infections ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral ; SARS-CoV-2

【Objective】 To guide the nutritional intervention of children in the clinical practice ，by exploring the effect of over-nutrition in postnatal life on growth of the female SD rats.【Methods】We established the rat model of intra? uterine growth retardation（IUGR）through diet restriction in pregnant rats and selected female newborn rats that met the criteria as the experimental group（group I）. Group I was randomly divided into control group（group IC）and small group（group IS）. Fifty-eight female newborn rats with normal diet in pregnant period（group C）were also divided into control group（group CC）and small group（group CS）. After 21-days-lactation，group IC and group CC were randomly subdivided into 4 rats per cage，and then fed with normal diet，while group IS and group CS were fed with high fat diet. We measured the body weight and the body length of each rat every week. Serum fasting insulin，fasting blood glucose，IGF-1，IGF- BP3 levels，and rat insulin sensitivity index（ISI）were measured at different growth and development stages.【Results】 The body weight and body length of group IS were higher than those of group IC（P<0.05）；the same was true for group CS and group CC. In the different growth and development stages，the FINS，FBG，IGF- 1 and IGF- BP3 of group IS were higher than those of group IC（P < 0.05），the ISI was lower than that of group IC（P < 0.05）. Besides，the FINS，FBG of group CS were higher than those of group CC and the ISI of group CS was lower than that of group CC in the 75 days after birth（P < 0.05）.【Conclusions】We found that those small for gestational age infants can be added nutrition appropriately for rapid catch-up，but it is necessary to evaluate the growth index closely and adjust the nutrition on time. Children with normal intrauterine development also need to prevent over-nutrition.

Alveolar echinococcosis is a parasitic zoonosis that severely damages human health. Currently, radical surgical resection is the first choice for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. For the advanced hepatic echinococcosis patients with refractory radical resection, the palliative surgery combined with chemotherapy, liver transplantation, drug therapy, and radiofrequency microwave ablation may provide comprehensive tools. This article reviews the current situation and progress of comprehensive treatments for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis.